History and Harry Potter in Soho Square

An architect's rendering of a Soho Square living room, previously used as the boardroom by the Bloomsbury publishing company. It will retain the original plasterwork decoration on the ceiling.Credit
E A Shaw

LONDON — The handsome Georgian house at 37 Soho Square, in the heart of London’s entertainment district, does not seem particularly magical. Yet it was here that the publishing company Bloomsbury planned the marketing of the Harry Potter books and turned J.K. Rowling’s hero into a cultural phenomenon.

Now the building is being redeveloped by the Stobart Group, better known for its moving and warehouse business, into five apartments, each one covering its own floor and with its own private elevator.

The units will have two or three bedrooms and range from 1,646 square feet to 1,937 square feet, or 153 square meters to 180 square meters. The work is expected to be finished this summer, and prices are listed at £1.85 million, or $2.8 million, to £4.25 million.

The Soho area has shed its once sleazy image, now boasting a growing population of workers from media, design and advertising. The neighborhood also has smart hotels and some of the city’s best restaurants, like Quo Vadis and Hix. But its streets still can be noisy, with crowds of drinkers spilling out of pubs on warm evenings. Developers behind the renovation, however, note that the building’s location on the east side of the square is relatively peaceful.

According to the real estate agency EA Shaw, which is handling sales for Stobart, increasing numbers of professionals are choosing Soho. But demand, always high in the British capital, appears to exceed supply to a greater extent than in other central London markets. Rightmove, a British property-search Web site, recently showed there were 19 properties for sale in Soho, compared with 85 in neighboring Covent Garden and 390 in Knightsbridge and Belgravia.

As a result, EA Shaw figures for new properties show that Soho sale prices average £1,503 per square foot, still a lot less than the prime districts like Chelsea and Knightsbridge, which exceed the £2,000-per-square-foot mark.

The Soho Square building, built of brick in 1766, has a Grade II listing from the English Heritage organization, indicating it is of special historic interest. Over the years its residents have included some minor nobility, a member of Parliament and one John Trotter, who stored goods for the military in the house and, in 1795, was caught cheating on a delivery of army greatcoats. He had added potato dust to the cloth to increase its weight.

There was even another bookseller. Dulau & Company, which traded in foreign books, was based there from 1800 to 1918 and allowed part of the house to be used for public entertainment.

Now, what used to be rooms full of untidy piles of books are being transformed. While the apartments are not being furnished, they will have some of the finishes and fittings expected in this price range: lacquered cabinets and leather-covered walls in the master bedrooms and natural stone and marble in the bathrooms; air conditioning and under-floor heating in the kitchens and bathrooms.

The top-floor penthouse has a balcony, three bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, and a large living area with a skylight and bay windows that overlook the square. Price: £3.95 million.

The main living area in the apartment on the first floor used to be called the Bloomsbury boardroom. It has tall sash windows and the original cornices surrounding a ceiling decorated with elaborate plasterwork flowers. It is listed at £4.25 million, while the two-bedroom duplex that covers the ground floor and basement is listed at £1.85 million.